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Mathematics

The Cauchy-Riemann Equations and Differentiability of Complex Functions

Quick fact

Unlike real functions, a complex function that is differentiable once automatically has derivatives of all orders and can be represented as a power series, because the Cauchy–Riemann equations enforce a rigid structure.

Why this is interesting

You know how to take derivatives of real functions, but what does it mean to differentiate a function that has both a real and an imaginary part? It turns out that this seemingly simple question leads to a surprisingly strict rule.